Approved Online Visitor Visa: Passport Return Times

[hydguy]

@ shvik @ DipT

Thanks for your summaries!

I applied for TRV online for both my wife & mom a couple of day back. I have a 5-yr visa myself.

Did both of you get 10-year multiple entry visas? Do they look at passport expiration date? Do they give 10 years visa beyond the passport expiry date too?

 

[Dobby]

@Hydguy

They clearly mentioned that they would not give visa after beyond the expiry date of your passport.

 

[hydguy]

@ Dobby you are right. The 'Passport Request' message on cic.gc.ca also stated the same.

wow, this is super fast. Got an update this morning requesting passports for both mom and wife. Submitted the online application on Saturday, 06/21 with a request to process the visa soon as my mom is leaving U.S. early August (attached her ticket from US to India as proof of urgency)

Here's 'Passport Request' message:

This is in reference to your application for temporary residence. A decision has been made on your application. We require your passport to finalize processing your application.
Passport requirements:
• Please provide your passport or travel document, with a copy of this letter.
• There must be at least one blank page in your passport.
• Your passport must be valid for the duration of your expected length of stay in Canada.
• Please note that we cannot issue a visa beyond the expiry date on the passport.

 

[hydguy]

I'm wondering where to mail the passports now for the final stamping (submitted applications online for my wife & mom and passports were requested). Should I mail them to VAC (NY) or directly to Canadian Consulate (NY) ? If I mail the passports to the NY VAC as it says in the MyCIC message (cic.gc.ca/submit), do I need to pay the 'Passport delivery' fee?

The VAC will send your passport to the Visa Office and provide you with a tracking number so you can track where your passport is. The fee for the Passport delivery / e-Application service is $34.10.

 

[hydguy]

I called the VAC at (646) 741-0130 was told to pay two separate fees of $34.10 (money order) - this is to get the stamping done in the passports from the Consulate. He also mentioned that the NY Consulate has stopped accepting passports for stamping directly so everyone has to go through the VAC.

Mail the original money orders to:

< Payments for Visa Application Centre in New York:>
CSC Consular Services Inc
Lockbox 3352
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3352

Mail passports, passport request letters, signed VAC consent forms, copy of both money orders, prepaid return envelope to:

Canadian Visa Application Centre – New York
290 Madison Ave, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10017
USA

He said it should take about 10 business days to get the passports stamped.

 

[Dobby]

I havw directly posted my passport to NY consulate on June 23, and it reached NY on June 25. Now, will i passport be stamped or no.. and when can i expect my passport back.

Canadian Visa Application Centre – New York
290 Madison Ave, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10017
USA

I called the VAC at (646) 741-0130 was told to pay two separate fees of $34.10 (money order) - this is to get the stamping done in the passports from the Consulate. He also mentioned that the NY Consulate has stopped accepting passports for stamping directly so everyone has to go through the VAC.

Mail the original money orders to:

< Payments for Visa Application Centre in New York:>
CSC Consular Services Inc
Lockbox 3352
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3352

Mail passports, passport request letters, signed VAC consent forms, copy of both money orders, prepaid return envelope to:

Canadian Visa Application Centre – New York
290 Madison Ave, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10017
USA

He said it should take about 10 business days to get the passports stamped.

 

[mypassport]

Hi, I sent my passport on June 14th and the embassy received it on June 16th. My application was approved and been closed on June 19th. But I still didn't get my passport back. I don't have a tracking number because I mistakenly use Priority mail instead of Express. And I get this email:

"Dear client,
Your application has been finalized and your passport was returned to you via sase priority mail (no trk#) on June 19, 2014.
We thank you for your patience. In order to efficiently process requests, we will not reply to duplicate emails.
Sincerely,
"

(Guys... if they reply me in this way, does that mean they already send my mail back or does it only mean that they close my application? Plus... will the embassy keep the tracking number of the passport they send out?)

I am in Philly so it shouldn't take a long time for me to get it...

So... I get two questions... do you remember the date they send back your passport on the envelope they send youk?

Thanks so much! I am really panic now since my trip is coming soon...

Finally I received my Passport! Here is my updated timeline and tip which can help others.

5/28 : Application Submitted Online.
5/29 : Received message for confirmation on application received.
6/04 : Received another message for Passport request.
6/06 : Passport sent to NY consulate via Fedex overnight shipping.
6/09 : Passport received by NY consulate.
6/10 : Got an email for updates. Online status: Approved, Case Closed.
6/20 : Received my passport in my mailbox via USPS standard shipping. (which takes 2-8 business days)

Important Tip: Do not send prepaid return envelope other than USPS. They only sent back passport via USPS.
I sent Fedex prepaid label for return and they didn't use it. Though you can send your passport to Consulate by Fedex or any other service. But return envelope should be from
USPS ONLY.

Also you can contact consulate on this email Id. CNGNYG @ international.gc.ca
If luck they will respond to your inquiry which they did in my case.

 

[sri.sachin24]

Did any of you guys receive passport request from canada consulate in EMAIL? .. I applied for canada visitor visa online. After 35 days, nothing is updated in my online application, but when I inquired via email, I received reply to send my passport to NY consulate. I stay in los angeles.

Do you think I should mail in my passport just based of an email, without them updating my online application??

Thanks,
Srikanth

 

[hydguy]

@ mypassport, did you mail your passport to VAC or the consulate? NY or LA?

Tracking can also be bought for USPS Priority Mail (Regular) it doesn't need to be Priority Mail Express. (In future please use USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate or Priority Mail Express Flat Rate envelopes for shipping passports. You get free tracking with these envelopes i.e., no need to buy tracking separately.)

It seems consulates use USPS First-class with *no* tracking if you don't provide a USPS return shipping envelope.

Did you provide a return shipping envelope? was it Priority Mail w/ no tracking?

Hi, I sent my passport on June 14th and the embassy received it on June 16th. My application was approved and been closed on June 19th. But I still didn't get my passport back. I don't have a tracking number because I mistakenly use Priority mail instead of Express. And I get this email:

"Dear client,
Your application has been finalized and your passport was returned to you via sase priority mail (no trk#) on June 19, 2014.
We thank you for your patience. In order to efficiently process requests, we will not reply to duplicate emails.
Sincerely,
"

(Guys... if they reply me in this way, does that mean they already send my mail back or does it only mean that they close my application? Plus... will the embassy keep the tracking number of the passport they send out?)

I am in Philly so it shouldn't take a long time for me to get it...

So... I get two questions... do you remember the date they send back your passport on the envelope they send youk?

Thanks so much! I am really panic now since my trip is coming soon...

 

[abudahim]

i have received a passport request last week . i been received by NY consulate on 27/June .
Are they going to accept it or they will ask me to mail it to VAC ?

 

[canadan_visitor]

My passport was received by the NY consulate on jun27. Before sending last week I had called up the VAC office twice and they categorically said that you CAN send the passport directly to the consulate. However, on Jun30, when I called them again, they spoke about a memo circulated last week saying that the NY consulate is no longer accepting passports directly and that my passport would be returned without stamp only to be submitted through the VAC. He was truly remorseful about it.
I am hoping to at least get the passport back asap either ways. They are really only living up to their expectations of a govt org. Jul 01 being a holiday for them I guess we have no choice but to wait and email them at the minimum.

 

[abudahim]

My passport was received by the NY consulate on jun27. Before sending last week I had called up the VAC office twice and they categorically said that you CAN send the passport directly to the consulate. However, on Jun30, when I called them again, they spoke about a memo circulated last week saying that the NY consulate is no longer accepting passports directly and that my passport would be returned without stamp only to be submitted through the VAC. He was truly remorseful about it.
I am hoping to at least get the passport back asap either ways. They are really only living up to their expectations of a govt org. Jul 01 being a holiday for them I guess we have no choice but to wait and email them at the minimum.

your are right , i check the return envelope tracking and it shows that delivery has been started.
i asked them by email and they responded that i can send passports to NY consulate directly
really this is the worst consulate ever

 

[Edenprairie]

Hi, does anyone know that we need to make appointment with the Embassy in New York before we hand in the Passport?

 

[mypassport]

@ hydguy

Hi, I sent my passport to NY Consulate. I did include a USPS Priority Mail(Regular) envelope and my address label. I didn't get any tracking number for that mail and as I said in my last post... I got a email from the embassy said that "Your application has been finalized and your passport was returned to you via sase priority mail (no trk#) on June 19, 2014." I don't know why and I am really really in deep panic now because I really need my passport back... do you know if there is any way I could contact someone in the embassy and figure out the tracking number for my passport? Or I would be more than happy to go to the embassy and pick it up by myself...

@ mypassport, did you mail your passport to VAC or the consulate? NY or LA?

Tracking can also be bought for USPS Priority Mail (Regular) it doesn't need to be Priority Mail Express. (In future please use USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate or Priority Mail Express Flat Rate envelopes for shipping passports. You get free tracking with these envelopes i.e., no need to buy tracking separately.)

It seems consulates use USPS First-class with *no* tracking if you don't provide a USPS return shipping envelope.

Did you provide a return shipping envelope? was it Priority Mail w/ no tracking?

 

[hydguy]

My passport was received by the NY consulate on jun27. Before sending last week I had called up the VAC office twice and they categorically said that you CAN send the passport directly to the consulate. However, on Jun30, when I called them again, they spoke about a memo circulated last week saying that the NY consulate is no longer accepting passports directly and that my passport would be returned without stamp only to be submitted through the VAC. He was truly remorseful about it.
I am hoping to at least get the passport back asap either ways. They are really only living up to their expectations of a govt org. Jul 01 being a holiday for them I guess we have no choice but to wait and email them at the minimum.

The $34.10 (US) fee for VAC quickly adds up if you are applying for TRV for the whole family. I prefer paying the total fees upfront than pay $100 (CAN) upfront and then a $34.10 (US) fee to VAC. CIC should start collecting both fees upfront if VAC is the place to send passports for online applications. I can imagine people getting confused and sending passports to wrong place w/ wrong or no additional fees for visa stamping.